Master of Urban Planning MUP

As the only professional program of its kind in the UAE, our Master in Urban Planning degree prepares skilled professionals and leaders in planning and managing urban development.

Our unique program is committed to the creation, dissemination and application of multidisciplinary knowledge in the field of urban planning. Our program provides professional men and women with outstanding, specialized graduate education that enables them to undertake leadership roles in managing urban growth, prescribing urbanization policies and advancing social development. We seek to empower students with the highest ethical standards compatible with values of local cultural settings, principles of social justice, and concerns for environmental protection and sustainability.

Modeled on similar degrees in the United States, our Master in Urban Planning (MUP) is fully accredited by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and is taught by a multinational and distinguished faculty. With a total of 11 courses that need to be completed for the degree, our program can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. Full-time students typically register for three or four courses a semester and complete the program in two years. Part-time students typically register for two or three courses a semester and complete the program in three years. Students with advanced standing (for instance, with an undergraduate degree in urban planning) can have up to five courses waived and can reduce the program duration by one or two semesters.

Our graduates are currently employed in number of sectors including local government and consulting firms across the country.

We are committed to ensuring that our program follows the aims and goals that we have set for ourselves and our students. These include:

supporting and promoting interdisciplinary original research in urban planning and related fields

attracting the best qualified students with indisputable potential for leadership

advancing cooperation and forging partnerships with local communities, be they governmental, professional, academic and/or other local groups such as not-for-profit entities and non-governmental organizations

Based on these goals, our objective is to produce urban planning professionals who:

have the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively engage in urban planning practice at the local, national, regional and international scale

can take leadership roles in planning administration and policy-making at the local and national levels

can deal with planning problems in their local context without overlooking the global dimension

are action-oriented and deeply acquainted with practical, real-world issues and problems that they

onsider as a means to engage theories and understand concepts

view planning as a value-laden field with wide ranging societal implications

understand and appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of the field of urban planning and value sustainability as a basic guiding principle in all urban planning activities